Nightmares
by KittyKatThePsycho
Summary: Shadow has a secret and Sonic wishes to know what it is.


A/N: I like the idea of Shadow and Sonic having a deep understanding of one another, even though they are rivals.

Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners

It had all started innocently enough on a sunny day as Sonic had been dragged, yet again, to help Amy Rose with her shopping. They had taken a break in the park, which he was grateful for because he loathed shopping, when Cream had spotted them sitting together.

"Hello Amy, hello Sonic!" The little rabbit had smiled at them eagerly and then looked around as if she were expecting someone else to be there.

Sonic smirked slightly. "Hey, Cream. Tails is at home." This caused the rabbit to blush.

"I know, it's because you two are on a date, right?" Cream smiled, causing Sonic to look away awkwardly while Amy beamed happily.

"I'm surprised we haven't run into Rouge, though." Amy said, looking thoughtful. "She normally takes Shadow shopping with her. I see her here almost every weekend."

This made Sonic smirk. At least he wasn't the only one suffering.

"Mr. Shadow comes out in the day?" Cream looked surprised. "Charmy says he sees so little of Mr. Shadow that he thinks Mr. Shadow is a vampire or something."

Sonic laughed, but Amy scowled. "Don't listen to that bee, Cream. He'll fill your head with nonsense."

Soon, Cream hopped off to continue playing and Sonic headed home. However, for some reason, Cream's statement bothered him. It was true that most of the time, he encountered Shadow during the night and that was only when the ebony hedgehog was on some kind of assignment. He'd see Rouge and Omega out during the day, but never Shadow. And he wanted to know why.

Shadow was sitting in his bedroom at Club Rouge, silently polishing his gun when he became aware of an annoying presence radiating nearby. Did that idiot really think he was that stealthy? He sighed and glared at the open window. "I know you're there, Faker."

Sonic popped his head out from the tree across the window and grinned playfully, causing his ebony counterpart to roll his eyes. "And? Why are you here? Do you need my help to save the world again?"

"Not at all! I am here for information." He looked at Shadow so intensely that it made the ebony hedgehog worried. It had to be important if the Faker looked so determined.

"Are you a vampire?" Shadow nearly face palmed at the question. He silently wondered how exactly such an idiot managed to save the world so many times. Oh wait, he helped the Faker. Now it made more sense.

"I may have red eyes, fangs and prefer the night, but no, I am not a vampire, Sonic." He replied, giving the blue hero a blank stare.

"That's exactly what a vampire would say." Sonic replied.

Shadow nearly threw his gun at the Faker. "I am not even going to argue with you, because it's going to lead to a stupid fight and Rouge will murder me afterwards."

Sonic waved his hand at Shadow dismissively. "Yeah, yeah. You and your marital problems do not concern me."

Shadow blushed and glared at him. "We aren't married."

"Might as well be." Sonic looked at the ebony hedgehog. "That aside, I am curious about something. When you're not on missions and so on, what do you do during the day that we hardly see you?"

"Why is that any of your business?" Shadow retorted.

"It's not, but I'm curious." Sonic replied, honestly.

Shadow sighed. Perhaps the idiot would leave him alone if he answered. "I sleep."

"Wait, seriously? All day? You don't have an odd hobby or you don't go racing or anything? Just sleeping?" Sonic seemed disappointed. "That's so boring."

Shadow sighed again. "Well, sorry for not having some blackmail material for you, but I happen to be tired from all those damn assignments GUN likes to throw at me. I don't always get enough sleep, and even then it's hard to sleep because..." He paused and looked away.

"Because...?" Sonic pressed on.

"Because I have really good hearing and it gets noisy around here." Shadow glared at him. "Is that all you wanted to know?"

"Yeah, I guess-" Sonic started, but was cut off by Shadow.

"Great, now get out." Shadow said, curtly and gave Sonic a look that made it clear he was ready to shove a Chaos Spear down the blue hero's throat if he refused.

"Alright, see you around." And with that, the blue hero leapt out of the window and went home.

A few days later, Shadow was laying on one of the couches in the club, staring blankly at the ceiling. He growled slightly as he remembered how annoying the Faker had been a few nights ago. While he was used to Sonic being a royal pain, he had been taken aback by the blue hero's "curiosity". He also doubted it was because of the rumor of him being a vampire. What had Sonic expected him to say and why did he want to know?

Tch. Whatever. He thought to himself and turned over. He hadn't slept well the previous night, even though he'd been exhausted because of the assignment he'd received. He looked around and rubbed his eyes slightly. Rouge had gone to see Amy and Omega was recharging, which meant that he had the peace and quiet he needed. He smiled thinly and closed his eyes.

He dreamed of many things. Maria's death still haunted him, but it was not a frequent dream anymore. He dreamed of more recent events, such as his second fall to Earth, the invasion of Black Doom and his army and his encounters with Mephiles. His dreams started out normally, merely memories playing back in his mind, but then they changed to events that could have happened instead. What if Sonic had fallen to Earth instead of him? He didn't know Sonic well enough at that time, but he knew he wanted to save him. His light-hearted attitude reminded Shadow of happier times. In his dream, he could smell burning flesh as he tried to grab Sonic's hand as they both descended towards Earth. In the end, he would be forced to watch the blue hero burn to death in front of him. What if he had joined Black Doom? He imagined the Earth without humans, without life- no longer the jewel Maria had treasured so much and it was all because of him. Because he didn't know what was right and what was wrong.

The dream that disturbed him the most, however, consisted of Mephiles defeating him, Silver and Sonic. However, because he was unable to die, Mephiles kept him alive as a trophy and he was forced to watch every one of his friends die in front of him in gruesome ways that made him bite on his lip while he slept until he bled, just so that he could force himself awake.

As Shadow dreamed, he was unaware that someone was watching him. Emerald eyes filled with worry as they scanned his sleeping form. "Rouge... I'm sorry... couldn't save you..." Shadow mumbled, clutching the fur on his chest slightly as if his heart were aching. "Forgive me..."

Sonic had no idea what to do. He had planned to watch Shadow sleep so that he could make fun of him for snoring or sucking his thumb. He even considered pulling a prank on the hedgehog, but those thoughts had left his mind when he'd seen Shadow's pained expression.

Nightmares. That was why Shadow was tired and slept during the day. Or rather, forced himself to sleep. It was strange and disturbing to see the self-proclaimed Ultimate Life Form in such a vulnerable state. Suddenly, he felt a tight grip on his arm and he looked down to see it was Shadow gripping his arm, although he was still asleep. Sonic felt awkward, but he didn't mind until the grip increased and he could feel a bruise starting to form.

He tugged and tugged, but Shadow would not release his grip. He placed his foot against the couch and used it to push himself in order to gain momentum. It was at this moment that Shadow decided to let go, causing Sonic to crash into a nearby table. Red eyes snapped open and glanced at the blue hedgehog, rubbing the shoulder that had hit the table.

"Faker, what the hell are you doing here?" Shadow snarled, angrily. He knew he often spoke in his sleep and he had just awoken from yet another awful nightmare. The last thing he needed was a blue idiot mocking him.

However, Sonic merely stared at him with a warm expression that made the ebony hedgehog feel uncomfortable. "So this is why you sleep all day? I understand."

Shadow was speechless. The tone of Sonic's voice was kind and mature. It was something he was not used to.

"Don't look so shocked, Shads. Nightmares are... a common thing if you think about all the things we've done...all the things we've been through. I think it'd be odd if we didn't get nightmares." Sonic sat on the floor beside the couch.

"You...get them too?" Shadow looked at the blue hero, who nodded.

"They're not always that bad, though, even though they do bother me. Then, there are the really bad ones..." He frowned and stared at Shadow with the most forlorn expression he's ever seen upon Sonic's face. "... Like when Tails nearly died because of my arrogant stunts...and the time you fell to Earth."

Shadow was slightly surprised at the last part of Sonic's statement. He had nightmares of that day as well? He had expected Sonic to feel some guilt over it, naturally, due to his good nature but he had never thought that it had affected him that badly. Although, Rouge had said that Sonic seemed a bit down and looked as if he wanted to disappear whenever Shadow's name was brought up.

"I felt bad, no, terrible, not only because I couldn't save you but also because I kept dreaming of what could have been possible if I had. " Sonic smiled wistfully. "You wouldn't have lost your memory, you would have been welcomed as a hero and...well, things may have been better."

"Or worse." Shadow frowned. "I was dead set on getting my revenge for Maria that I may have hurt countless innocent people, so, perhaps it was better that I lost my memory and had to find it again. It made me...think more carefully." He looked at Sonic intently. "I have nightmares about that day, too. But I keep dreaming about if our roles were reversed. You would have died in front of me..."

"I wish I could tell you that these nightmares will stop, but I can't." Sonic looked at his feet. "Sometimes it takes months or years to get over the shock of an event... Sometimes you never do. But what I do know is that all you can do is get up and face another day. Things get worse before they get better, but they do get better."

Shadow smiled slightly. "Yeah, I know. I've seen it a few times..."

Sonic grinned. "Yeah. Another piece of advice I can give you is to talk about it with someone else. It helps to tell someone close to you. They make you feel better, even if the best thing they can offer you is a hug."

"I guess I can talk to you... But I am not hugging you." Shadow looked at him. "That's only if you don't mind...you know, listening. It's okay if you do, it's not like I can't handle it myself, I've done so for years!" Shadow's cheeks were slightly pink. "I'm just keeping an open mind because you have been right about a few things... And also, I don't want to bother Rouge.. And this can be your payment for being such a royal pain all the time!"

Sonic laughed. "Hey, relax, Shads. Of course you can talk to me. We're friends, aren't we?"

Shadow breathed out a sigh. "Yeah... Yeah I guess we are..." He instantly regretted saying those words when he felt Sonic grab him and ruffle his quills. "Get your hands off me, Faker!"

Sonic grinned and made his way to the door as Shadow straightened his quills. "Alright, I'll get out of your hair for a while. I have to go get a chilli dog! See you around...friend."

Shadow watched the blue hero leave and a smile crept its way onto his face. He lied down and closed his eyes and for the first time, in a long time, he slept peacefully.


End file.
